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Settlement Reached With UK TS Lawyer
Contributed by Elizabeth Parker
via NewsPlanet
November 18, 1998
Britain's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) on November 18 reached a
confidential settlement with transsexual barrister Susan Marshall, who had
been offered a job with the service as a man only to have it withdrawn
when she began her transition to living as a woman. A spokesperson said
that, "The CPS recognizes the distress caused to Ms. Marshall by the
withdrawal of employment at the time she had expressed an intention to
undergo gender reassignment."
In 1992, while still presenting in her male birth gender and using her
birth name of Simon Stone, the CPS was ready to hire Marshall, and
according to Marshall was "very keen" to have him. Soon after, Marshall
determined to live as a woman and to begin treatment, and wrote a letter
so advising then-Director of Public Prosecutions Barbara Mills. Mills
responded with a letter withdrawing the CPS' job offer and describing
Marshall's plan as "inimical" to the service. This left Marshall "livid,"
not least because she expected that Mills, as a woman who had fought her
way to the top, would be more understanding. "If I was suitable to do the
job as a man I could hardly be less suitable as a woman," said Marshall.
Although there was no legal recourse for Marshall at the time of the CPS'
reversal, in 1996 the European Court of Justice decided in the landmark
case of P v S versus Cornwall County that discrimination against
transsexuals constituted illegal gender discrimination. Marshall filed a
discrimination complaint against the CPS three months later. CPS argued
that it was too late for the filing, and when a lower court refused to
dismiss Marshall's case, CPS went to the Court of Appeal. It was shortly
before those justices were to hear oral arguments that the settlement was
reached. The terms are confidential, but the negotiations were described
as "amicable."
Mills was a quite conservative Director of Public Prosecutions, but the
effort to have Marshall's case dismissed seems to be out of step with
current politics. Equal Opportunities Minister Alan Howarth understood the
value of having the transgender lobby group Press for Change actively
involved in revising a draft consultation paper on Legislation Regarding
Discrimination on Grounds of Transsexualism after a number of groups
protested its contents when it was released earlier this year. A newly
released proposal by the Equal Opportunities Commission for a general
overhaul of anti-discrimination laws included protection for the rights of
transsexuals, even though sexual orientation was apparently left out of
the final version to be covered by separate legislation.
Marshall, who underwent sex reassignment surgery in 1994, is currently
employed as a bursar at Oxford University.
Hormones and Hearing
Contributed by Elly G
via Acoustical Society Journal
November 18,1998
Changes in otoacoustic emissions in a transsexual male uring treatment with estrogen Dennis McFadden, a) Edward G. Pasanen, and Narriman Lee Callaway Department of Psychology and Institute for Neuroscience, Mezes Hall 330, University of Texas, Austin,Texas 78712 (Received 20 December 1997; revised 1 June 1998; accepted 5 June 1998) Otoacoustic emissions (OAEs) were monitored in two human males undergoing estrogen treatment prior to sex-reversal surgery. In one subject, multiple spontaneous emissions (SOAEs) appeared where none had been evident previously. One reasonable interpretation is that (in this male, at least) androgens normally produced a suppressive effect on the cochlear mechanisms responsible for SOAEs, and that the decline in androgen levels produced by the estrogenic drug led to a reduction in that suppression. (c) 1998 Acoustical Society of America. @S0001-4966(98)03209-3#PACS numbers: 43.64.Jb, 43.64.Kc @BLM#
INTRODUCTION
This is an interim report on an on-going study of a special population of subjects. Most case studies have weaknesses that good experimental research does not have, and this study is no exception. Nevertheless, we believe that the outcomes to date are worth bringing to the attention of others interested in otoacoustic emissions (OAEs) @see Probst et al.(1991) for a review# and sex differences in the auditory system@see McFadden (1998) for a review#.
Females have more spontaneous otoacoustic emissions(SOAEs) and stronger click-evoked otoacoustic emissions(CEOAEs) than do males (Talmadge et al., 1993; McFaddenet al., 1996), and this difference exists in infants as well as adults (Burns et al., 1992; Norton, 1992). In recent times, this laboratory has been interested in the origin of this and other auditory sex differences. We have shown that females having male co-twins (opposite-sex dizygotic or OSDZtwins) have OAEs that are more like those of males than those of other females (McFadden, 1993; McFadden et al.,1996). Further, the CEOAEs of homosexual females are significantly weaker (the male direction) than those of heterosexual females (McFadden and Pasanen, 1998). Our working hypothesis is that prenatal exposure to high levels of androgens leads to weaker cochlear amplifiers (Davis, 1983), andthus to fewer SOAEs and weaker CEOAEs.
Transsexuals taking sex hormones to alter their bodily appearance present an opportunity to study further the effects of hormones on the auditory system. Two such subjects have been recruited to date. Both are genetic and phenotypic males who are taking estrogenic hormones prior to undergo-ing sex-reversal surgery.
PA Bar Owner Hangs Tough
Contributed by National Gay and Lesbian Task Forceıs
November 19,1998
Shot gun blasts, molotov
cocktails, and death threats have not stopped Pat Cramer from
creating a space for the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender
community of southwestern Pennsylvania to gather. Despite death
threats and physical attacks, the Casa Nova bar remains open. In
an emotional speech at the closing session of the National Gay
and Lesbian Task Forceıs (NGLTF) Creating Change conference, Pat
Cramer, a straight woman and owner of the Casa Nova, discussed
the ceaseless harassment and violence she and the barıs patrons
have lived through for the past two years. Cramerıs speech
culminated a powerful conference and painfully and poignantly
epitomized so much of what the struggle of gay, lesbian, bisexual,
and transgender people is about and the importance of straight
allies to this struggle. At the close of Cramerıs remarks,
participants spontaneously emptied the muffins and morning rolls
from the breadbaskets on their tables and passed the baskets
around the large ballroom. Conferees dug deep in their pockets
for one dollar, ten dollar, and twenty-dollar bills and raised
more than $1100 for the Casa Nova legal defense fund.
"Pat Cramer reminds us that the bravest people in our movement
are the ones on the front lines in small cities and towns across
the country. Pat Cramer reminds us that the commitment of resources for
organizing in state and local communities is not an option, itıs a must.
Pat Cramer reminds us why it is so important for our movement to gather
every year to share ideas, resources, and strategies," said Kerry Lobel,
NGLTF executive director.
Creating Change is the largest annual political conference of
the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender movement. Sponsored
by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, this yearıs conference,
the 11th annual, was held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from November
11 15. Nearly 2000 grassroots organizers, funders, media,
students, policy makers, lawyers, social service providers,
organizers of community centers, anti-violence projects, state
political organizations, religious groups, and more gathered for
five full days of workshops, keynote speeches, networking meetings,
impassioned debate, a rally, strategy discussions, and even some
socializing.
Another major theme of the conference was youth, and youth were
ever present throughout Creating Change. The local host committee
included a youth subcommittee that coordinated free meals, housing,
a youth information table, and reduced rates to conference events
for youth. An all-day Youth Leadership Institute was organized
by the Task Force and the National Youth Advocacy Coalition and
was attended by approximately 80 youth. Among other things,
participants discussed youth involvement in Equality Begins at Home.
Plans are already taking shape and include a youth lobby day in California
and a youth summit in Connecticut. In addition to more than 25
youth-related workshops, there was a two-part emergency campus meeting to
discuss increases in anti-gay hostility on campuses. The meeting was
attended by more than one hundred students, GLBT campus center directors,
and allies who strategized on ways to confront and eradicate hate
incidents on campuses. Both the quantity and quality of youth sessions at
Creating Change were the result of years of advocacy by youth activists
for greater inclusion in the conference.
The Creating Change Awards are a conference staple. This year,
the Audre Lorde Project of Brooklyn, the Bisexual Resource Center
of Boston, José Sarria of the San Francisco Imperial Court, and Pat Cramer, owner
of the Casa Nova bar, were honored. The Task Force in turn was
honored by President Clinton who issued a statement in celebration
of the Task Forceıs 25th anniversary. Openly gay presidential
appointee Richard Socarides personally delivered the letter to the
conference.
Vermont Marriage Laws Challenged
Contributed by Jami Ward
via Associated Press
November 19,1998
MONTPELIER -- Vermont's contention that limiting marriage
to heterosexual couples is good for procreation and child-rearing is
discriminatory and unconstitutional, a lawyer for three gay couples told
the state Supreme Court Wednesday.
In a case considered by gay advocates as the best hope for same-sex
marriage, Beth Robinson argued that Vermont's 28-year-old ban doesn't
serve to protect children.
"If the state's concern is about protecting children then that would
be protected by allowing these couples to marry," she said, noting that
two of the three couples have adopted.
State lawyers urged the court to turn down the couples' request to
overturn the prohibition. In legal briefs and arguments to the court,
they said marriage historically has been defined as a union between a man
and a woman because same-sex couples can't biologically bear children.
"To say (otherwise) would be to say there's absolutely no connection
between marriage and procreation," said Assistant Attorney General Eve
Jacobs-Carnahan. "It's a unique social institution based on the sexual
communion of a man and a woman."
Vermont is the only state with a Supreme Court considering the
question of gay marriages. In this month's elections, voters in Hawaii
and Alaska essentially overturned court rulings that were moving toward
legalizing such unions.
Robinson said refusing to allow same-gender couples to marry was as
discriminatory as bans on interracial marriage, first overturned by the
California Supreme Court in 1948.
"The parallels between that case and this case are striking," she
said.
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